Spice Grinders

Nutritionists have been extolling the virtues of home-made flour over commercial types available from groceries for quite a while. This has resulted in a steady increase in the number of home cooks who are buying their own grain mills, whether electric or hand-cranked, and switching to the healthier and more nutritious home-ground grain without preservatives and chemicals.

If you are one of those who want to make the switch but cannot decide which type of electric grain mill you want, consider the affordable Miracle Electric Grain and Flour Mill. It is very easy to assemble and use. Once set up atop your countertop or work table, all you need to do is pour your grains into the hopper, turn the knob below it to choose the degree of fineness you want from 16 grinding settings, and push the switch. In a minute, you can have your first cup of flour. Or course if you want more, you can keep on grinding. In one hour you will have 10 pounds. If you prefer a coarser grind, you can have them even sooner.

Another great thing about this mill is that it can handle both dry and oily grains and seeds. You can pour oats, rye, soybeans, wheat, rice, linseed, peanuts, spices, herbs, and poppy seeds into the hopper. The Miracle Electric will grind them all with its stainless steel burr grinders. The burrs are powered by a 200-watt geared down motor.

Its white all nylon housing and its brown-tinted transparent hopper make it an attractive addition to your countertop, that, if you have enough room there, you need not keep it inside your kitchen cabinets.

If you are one of those who like kitchen appliances that can perform a number of functions, KitchenAid Stand Mixers are for you. KitchenAid offers 14 models of mixers and, if you opt for their Artisan model, you can have 25 colors to choose from. All such models, in addition to the slots for the beaters, feature a power hub onto which various food processing attachments can be latched. With this stand mixer, you can have an ice cream maker, ravioli maker, pasta roller set, fruit and vegetable strainer and grinder, and a grain mill.

The KitchenAid Grain Mill Attachment is completely made of metal which qualifies it as a heavy-duty and sturdy tool. Assembly and attachment to any KitchenAid Stand Mixer model is straightforward and uncomplicated. When purchased, it comes with a small brush for cleaning. You can, of course, wash it with soap and water but you will have to do this by hand as it is not dishwasher safe.

Any non-oily and low-moisture grain, such as oats, wheat, rye, corn, millet, barley, or buckwheat, can be ground in this mill. You can adjust your desired consistency, whether fine or coarse, by turning a knob right below the hopper.

The Blendtec Grain Mill boasts of being the first grain mill to use a micronetic milling chamber to quickly and efficiently transform grain into flour. Micronetic technology has previously been limited to the pharmaceutical industry to produce uniform particles for medicines.

The computer-balanced milling chamber uses stainless steel that meets surgical standards to grind different kinds of grains. It is also self-cleaning and self-lubricating. Two stainless steel discs with concentric rows of stainless steel teeth make up the chamber. The teeth spin within each other to break the grain into the fine flour. Since no part of the chamber touch each other while spinning, friction is reduced thus keeping the grain at lower temperatures. This means that nutrients are preserved. Wear and tear is likewise minimized.

The chamber is powered by a 1¾ horse power direct-drive motor that is guaranteed from overheating, and which runs on 120 volts of electricity. With this power, it can easily grind corn, rice, barley, wheat, oats, soybeans, and popcorn kernel.

The casing and base of the mill is made of Lexan, a brand of polycarbonate resin thermoplastic giving the mill its durability and longevity. The transparent pan, which has a capacity of 24 cups, allows you to see the amount of milled flour.

For all its power and capacity, the mill weighs a mere eight pounds making it easy to move around your kitchen. With a height and depth of 10 inches, width of 8 inches, its footprint is small. And since the pan can be inverted to cover the mill, it is even smaller when not in use or if you choose to store it.

If you have heard good things about the Whisper Mill and want to purchase one, you can forget about it. It is now marketed under the name Wonder Mill. In spite of its new name, it still carries all the great features of its predecessor.

Wonder Mill still has the innovative Microburst milling chamber that enables the machine to grind grains into coarse or extremely fine flours. This is done through the numerous stainless steel fins that spin at high speeds within the milling chamber. An added bonus is that this chamber basically cleans itself. Virtually every speck of flour
flows into the storage canister that can accommodate as much as 12 cups of flour (approximately 5 pounds).

With its robust motor, a 1¾ horsepower, 1250-watt powerhouse, the Wonder Mill can grind 12 cups of flour in a mere three minutes. If you need more, you can grind up to 100 pounds without worrying about overheating its huge motor.

The Wonder Mill is easy to use. All you need to do is fill the hopper with grain, cover it with the lid, select the degree of fineness you want, and turn the machine on. The flour goes straight to the storage canister through a connector tube without generating any cloud of flour dust keeping your kitchen counter or work table neat and clean.

The stainless steel fins can cut up different grains and beans including hard and soft wheat, rice, oats, buckwheat, barley, pinto beans, soybeans, and dried mung beans and corn. Since this is done at low temperatures, the nutrients in your whole grains are preserved.

With a height of 11 inches and width and depth of 7 inches, it can be stored easily. You may even opt to leave it on your countertop as it is an attractive addition to any kitchen.

Wolfgang Grain Mills take their name from their designer –Wolfgang Mock, a German craftsman and inventor. Imported from Germany, these mills are rather pricey but they boast of superior craftsmanship, durability, and high quality materials.

A distinctive feature of the Wolfgang Grain Mill is its casing. While other electric mills come in plastic or stainless steel, the Wolfgang is encased in treated solid beech. This makes the machine perfectly suited for display in classic and traditional kitchens. Of course it can also be used in contemporary kitchens as wood complements virtually every type of décor.

The funnel-shaped hopper has a holding capacity of 2.2 pounds which the machine can grind at the rate of 3.5 ounces each minute into the finest of flours, whether it be hard or soft wheat, barley, oats, rice, millet, corn, or spelt. Flour falls out of a tube into a separate bowl.

The grinding mechanism consists of a tough ceramic-corundum millstone. This, along with the grinder’s industrial class 360-watts motor, assures effortless grinding of grains to very fine flours, even in large volumes. And this it does, at a decibel level of only 75.

For all this power and durability, it comes in a small package. Measuring 13¼ inches in height and 6 inches in width and depth, and weighing a little over 15 pounds, this machine occupies a minimum of space and is easy to move around. With its beech finish, however, there is no need to keep it inside your cabinets.

The Nutrimill has enough features to encourage most cooks to eschew flour available from groceries in favor of freshly ground grains that are more nutritious and free from preservatives or additives.

This kitchen tool is light enough to be moved to your counter or your work table easily whenever you need fresh flour, yet it does not move around when put to use. With a height of 11½ inches and a footprint of 11 x 13 inches, you can even simply leave it on your counter. Its white plastic casing matches most kitchen decors from traditional to contemporary.

Its 12-amp, 1¾ horsepower motor quickly and efficiently grinds hard and soft wheat, buckwheat, oat groats, rice, beans, corn, barley, millet, and other grains and beans. In just one grain filling, it will grind up to 20 cups of fine, medium, or coarse flour depending on your choice.

Nutrimill uses stainless steel impact grain milling heads. This allows a huge range of adjustments of flour size from coarse to super fine. Whether you are making bread, waffles, or pancakes, you can have the exact flour texture you want. Its impact grinding mechanism is essentially self-cleaning. All you need to do after grinding is to pull out the flour bin at the bottom portion. Once emptied, just wipe off any remaining flour dust.

It is normal for grain mills to emit a whining sound when used, but there are people who swear that Nutrimill is the quietest in the market. It does sound like a vacuum cleaner but it is certainly quieter than earlier versions of impact mills.